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Female Mix & 13 week GSD - Normal Behavior?

2K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  audrienco 
#1 ·
Wondering if I can get other opinions on the matter.

We have a 7.5 year old Female shepherd mix (breed unknown) & 13 week old Female GSD that we brought home at 8 weeks. With our older one getting less active and lately depressed unless we wanted to play fetch (she's very ball driven), we thought we bring in a puppy as a playmate. It's been good for the socialization of both dogs surprisingly- 1. the older learns to play more with other dogs, not just us. Plus she's also learning to share 2. Puppy has picked up on a lot of the older dog's daily routine making life just a tad easier for training.

Despite these good experiences - We do have 1 "concern". They play constantly!! The pup instigates 80% of the time, but the older is ready and willing to play almost 100% of the time. I break them up using verbal commands when it starts to get too "intense" with barking , etc. especially while we are indoors. They listen and break it up, but sometimes only for a few minutes. Within 10 minutes or more they will continue wrestle or even be VERY quiet while wrestling where they think I can't hear them.. >:)

Is this normal? I'm often worried that the pup could be overdoing herself? Could this behavior become problematic in the future?

I do catch myself telling the pup "enough" or "no" when she constantly feels the need to latch onto the older while just simply walking down the hallway. At least this has improved over the last few weeks.
 
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#2 ·
I also wanted to add they both get regular exercise. While the word "constantly" in my pp, may be a tad dramatic, what I should have said was that I find her wanting to play "wrestle" as her first choice of play rather than playing with her kongs or other toys. If she's denied that we have directed her to toys and she will comply until her attention span gets the best of her. She is crate trained - I have used the method of putting her in there for a momentary "time out.

I guess I just find myself questioning if i am overreacting/ correcting them when I should be letting them play.
 
#3 ·
Mine are 2 and 5, and it sounds very similar to our home. I do stop them, if they go on too long, loud or rough. It does sound like they are killing each other some days. I did monitor and limit it more when the pup was younger like yours. We still give them separate play times, our older girl loves fetch and we can't get a good game in with the young out there.
 
#4 ·
that's all fine and dandy , sounds like a lot of fun for the dogs .
But there is one big BUT and that is that you are loosing the pup .
By that I mean the pup is going to be too doggy . Senior dog
and pup are partners in crime and you are the provider of necessities
of life .
This is a critical age for socializing. YOU need to separate them and
have quality one on one time with the pup , training , asserting yourself
as the leader . There needs to be attachment to you . Not over attachment
to the senior dog.


Pup needs to be crated and given alone time so that she doesn't have separation
anxiety .


sounds like a fun household
 
#6 ·
my house isn't really a good place for rowdy play. We were cautious in that we had our pup earn her way out of her living room crate. And yes, every time they were in the living room together they were a rolling bundle of dog. yikes! Too rowdy and the pup went back to the crate to rest. Over tired and over stimulated, crate time again. They had to learn to go on pack walks without constantly nipping and pouncing on each other. Over time the pup learned to go to her pillow(what we call our place command), amuse herself with a chew toy, settle herself, etc without constantly jumping on our two year old. Now at 7 months they play rowdy in the front yard, come in and relax and if they do start to wrestle indoors, it is a tad bit calmer. If it gets too rowdy they get called to pillows If I get "back talk" it is crate time to calm down. No fussing, just calm crate time.

All that to say others might have said we were too cautious. But it worked for our household.

And I still do individual walks, especially since my big boy goes 3 to 5 miles. I still do individual training times. My next goal is to teach them to take turns so I can work one in the yard while the other is in a down. Our big boy knows it but my pup still needs to learn a bit more impulse control.
 
#7 ·
Sounds normal to me, make sure they both get time on their own for training and walks, and just quality time with you. Make sure to give the pup enough down time so she doesn't overdo it, she will keep playing and playing and not know when to stop, so you have to be the one to establish some downtime, maybe crate her for a while for a nap after playing and walks, since she is still very young. Sounds like they are having an awesome time together though!
 
#8 ·
Sounds normal to me, make sure they both get time on their own for training and walks...
I will definitely start doing more individual things with them, these are all really helpful tips.

my house isn't really a good place for rowdy play. We were cautious in that we had our pup earn her way out of her living room crate...
We have finally started to open up our bedroom door since she's been allowed to wonder the living room and kitchen for the last 4.5 weeks. Slowly, maybe I'll learn to trust her curiosity with just wanting to "check it out":wink2:

Nothing else to add except that you should def post pics
:grin2:

There needs to be attachment to you . Not over attachment
to the senior dog...
This hit home for me, thank you!! It makes sense 100%

Mine are 2 and 5, and it sounds very similar to our home....
Glad to know I'm not alone :)
 
#10 ·
I wanted to thank everyone for their input and advice. I have been trying to give them separate time to bond with me, occasionally separate walks, training, car rides, etc. It seems to be helping a lot! The younger is still very playful, as to be expected, but also listening to my recall a lot more (progress!).

Since there was a small request for some photos, here they are. I tend to only get good photos of them if they are being still (ie: their favorite bone chewing time!)









My older loves to play fetch too!! The other would rather just chase her when she chases the ball! I've been letting the older get some fetch time in without the little one!

 
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